Life of Guangzhou - Guangdong Citizens Question Electric Bicycle Ban

The Guangdong Bicycle Industry Association has delivered a complaint to the State Bureau for Letters and Calls about a recent ban on electric or motorized bicycles, which will come into effect on Friday, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday.

Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province, announced in mid-November that it would ban all electric and motorized bicycles as of December, and violators would be fined or their bikes might even be confiscated.

The Guangdong Bicycle Industry Association on Tuesday handed in a petition letter to the State bureau, signed by 110 companies as well as nine thousand consumers and enterprise staff members.

The letter said that since electric bicycles are technically not vehicles, they should be treated like normal bicycles. As well, they note that the Law on Road Traffic Safety doesn¡¯t give the local government the right to ban them from the streets. Some of the petitioners believed that related departments should open public hearings regarding the prohibition.

Actually, the ban on electric bicycles has been arousing discussion for a long time. Since June, Guangzhou has held several meetings to discuss the matter. The city's traffic police department said most of the city's electric bicycles didn't measure up to the country's technical regulations and thus increased the risk of traffic accidents.

However, electric bicycle sellers and users are complaining about the ban. It is said that some dealers asked traffic departments for their perspective on electric bicycles before engaging in the business. At that time, they received optimistic replies, so they began to invest. But now, because of the ban, electric bicycles are not selling, and several consumers even asked to return their previous purchases. What¡¯s more, many riders use electric bicycles because they are cheaper than cars, faster than normal bicycles and more convenient then public transportation. An electric bicycle costs about 2000 yuan, and if banned from road, they will all be useless and a waste of money.

The Vice-Secretary General of the Guangdong Bicycle Industry Association, He Xiaohua, said if the fine for the use of electric bicycles is finally put into practice, the association may appeal by way of legal means to related departments.